The Untied Hair
by Tammy Sayaka
Summary: Miku Hatsune LOVES her two significant pigtails. She had never been anywhere without them. She considers them to be her biggest possession. However... one day, she comes upon her two hair ties being broken. Uh oh. What's going to happen to Miku's strength? Will she still be the Miku everybody used to know, or will she have to face not being recognized by her fans?
1. Chapter 1

In the big house in what their other friends called "The Kagamine Residence", there had all of the Vocaloid friends all grouped together. There we get to meet Rin and Len Kagamine, Luka Megurine, Kaito, Meiko, and of course, we should not forget about the iconic Miku Hatsune. There was something going on in the house. Something pretty... bouncy. Here's exactly what had happened:

The older twin, Rin, decided it would have been a good idea to invite all her Vocaloid friends to her and Len's house to have a karaoke party in the night. Why? Because it was meant not only to have fun, but to practice for a big concert they all were required to be in that was coming the next day. Rin had just finished singing "Meltdown" to everybody. She then started to consider on who she should give the mic, which was actually one of her hairbrushes, to.

"Alright everybody! Who's next?" She asked in unison.

"Me! Me! I am!" Miku jumped out of her seat.

Rin handed over the hairbrush to Miku. "There you go, bestie! Make it count!" She stepped to the side so that Miku could have the entire living room as a "stage". Miku stood there, not budging, not speaking, not anything. All her friends in the "audience" all had their eyes focused on her. And in a blink of an eye, she started to sing the first verse of "Tell Your World".

"Gee! Miku sure has such a nice voice, doesn't she?" Kaito whispered to Meiko.

"I know, sweetheart. She does. I bet you can't beat her!" Meiko whispered back.

It did seem kinda strange, a wonderfully talented turquoise-haired girl to be standing in front of her friends holding a hairbrush for a mic. But even while holding a hairbrush, somehow none of her usual talent seemed to be any different.

And all of a sudden, Miku made it to the first chorus. She started to dance around, her two long pigtails on the sides of her head soaring around her body in every which way she moved. Rin, Len, Luka, Kaito, and Meiko all watched her in awe. Those long pigtails made that girl look so magical, it was almost like a fantasy.

"Gee, she's got spot on skill right there." Len stated.

The crowd continued to watch that idol dance around with her pigtails until it was time for the second verse. In unexpected addition, her powerful expression had faded. It seemed as though she couldn't remember some of the words to the next verse, which was probably why she was a little bit hesitant to sing since she's not the kind of person who would wanna trip over the Japanese lyrics to a popular song.

"Don't worry, I think she'll get that verse right..." Luka said to Rin.

"She never gives up, doesn't she?" Rin concluded.

"Yes, that's right. She's courageous." Luka replied.

 **some time later...**

The song was finished. All of Miku's friends clapped and cheered.

"That was awesome!" Rin hollered, standing on the couch.

"You looked like a miracle right there!" Kaito gushed.

"Thank you, thank you!" Miku bowed a couple of times before going to the kitchen to get herself a drink of water. Her throat had been dry from all her singing.

"Alright..." Miku said as she came back, gulping on a glass. "Who's next?"

"Me! Me! I am, I am!" Kaito raised his hand.

"Take it away, Kaito!" Miku handed the hairbrush to Kaito. She watched as Kaito approaches to a location somewhere in the living room where all of the other idols would be in his sight. When he starts to sing one of his songs called "Rosary Pale", Miku got closer to the others to tell them something.

"Do you know what made me maintain all my confidence?" she asked.

"Ooooh, what?" Meiko asked interestingly.

"See my pigtails?" Miku said, putting her hands on the two thick hair pieces that came out of her head. "They make me dance so well. They're the reason I don't feel scared of performing in front of others."

"Yeah Miku, your hair is so long that everybody knows you for it. You must use a lot of conditioner to keep it that way. I'm quite jealous." Luka pointed out.

Miku held her two pigtails very close to her. "These things, they're my biggest gift from God. Without them, I'm nothing. I wouldn't have impressed all my fans without them. I feel so lucky."

Len chuckled. "I'm glad they mean so much to you."

Everyone watched Kaito sing his song. They could hear all the emotion in his voice. Though Kaito didn't have many originals, he did good on the song he was singing right now. He got a round of applause when the song was over. The cycle of the Vocaloids getting up and singing their songs went on for about thirty minutes until Miku broke the sequence.

"That should wrap up the practice!" she exclaimed. "I hope we all get so much love from our fans! Man, I'm so pumped!"

"Of course, they'll all love us because we practiced a lot." said Rin.

"I'm gonna head home now, I have to wash my beautiful hair! I don't want it all tangly-wangly when I'm up there on that stage." Miku grinned as she put on her jacket.

"Alright Miku! See you tomorrow!" Kaito waved bye-bye to Miku as she left the front door. The next day was supposed to be a big day for everyone. A kind of day that would be in public, live, and in person that thousands of fans would come to watch. It would be an experience for all the singing idols to brighten up the fans and make them treasure their existences even more than usual. Some fans might have even been to all of the concerts that they could have ever held, and some might be coming for the first time. We never know. The fact that the Vocaloids were all going to perform in a public area mattered even more than finding out which fans came only one time, a few times, many times, or every time.


	2. Chapter 2

**the next morning...**

The sun shone through Miku's window, rays beaming at her face. She turned over in her bed to get herself up. Her hair was spread out everywhere. She got herself out of bed, stretched herself out, and went to her closet to get dressed. She seemed to have been sleeping for a bit too long, so she didn't really feel like she wanted to stay up in the morning. She got dressed in her usual outfit; a gray, sleeveless shirt, armwarmers, black skirt, and stockings. She then went to her drawer to see if she had put her hair ties there. Much to her shock, she saw that part of the ties were broken. Even the bits that came out were visible.

"No. No. NOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed in agony, pulling on her locks. "My hair ties! What am I going to do without my hair ties?!"

At that moment, her cellphone beeped. She went to look at it. It was a text message from Meiko. "What's the hold up, Miku? Why are you taking so long to arrive? The concert is going to start soon! Me and the others are already ready!" it read. Two large teardrops spilled out of Miku's eyes and ran down to the corners of her mouth. She texted back, "I'll be there soon. Don't worry.". Wiping the tears from her face, she started to head out the bedroom door.

"Hey Miku! What's wrong?" Rin popped up into Miku's sight almost immediately.

"GAAAAAAH!" Rin's sudden appearance made Miku jump out of her skin. She fell backwards, landing with her feet in the hair.

"Are you alright, Miku? You coulda tripped on your hair like that. Here, let me help you up." Rin offered a helping hand.

Miku, refusing to take Rin's hand, got up herself. She yelped as her body yanked on some of her hair locks. Her long, turquoise hair was hanging down below her knees. It didn't look very neat, either. She hated to see Rin now looking at her pigtail-less.

"Meiko sent me to get you because you were taking too long. I figured you could have been still sleeping. Oh, and did you lose your special hair ties?"

Instead of answering Rin's question, Miku flinched and ran off.

"Hey! Wait up!" The smaller girl boasted, trying to catch up to Miku. Her hair was bouncing everywhere with her as she was bolting to the venue. She had to keep all of her emotions together as she ran. She turned her head back. Rin's figure was still present, but she was too far away for her face to be seen. She didn't know why she was able to run that fast from her best friend, though she had thought Rin would catch her in just a split second. It was as if Miku was sprinting away from a humongous steamroller that was about to run over and smash her flat as a pancake. Except Rin came for a more important reason, and there were no roadrollers involved. She ran and ran until she finally reached the venue. She pushed and shoved her way through the large crowd of people in hopes nobody would dart after her and want to have her autograph. She finally reached the backstage, where she saw the unsmiling faces of her friends.

"What took you so long?" Len said, crossing his arms.

At that moment, Rin came in, panting.

"I tried... to... get her but... she just ran away..." Rin was so tired after her chase for Miku.

"Miku, let me ask you this. What took you so long?" Len said again.

This wasn't the time for falling aloof. There had to be an answer or else it would escalate to worse consequences.

"Well, what happened was that I woke up and when I went to my drawer, my hair ties had broken. I think I bumped my head somewhere which caused them to break. I didn't know they were broken until I looked on my drawer. Now look at me, I'm just a regular-looking girl now who doesn't look symbolic anymore! I was reluctant to come here honestly, but I had to come because I didn't want you getting mad at me for not coming. I don't even look like myself anymore, and I believe nobody in the audience won't even recognize me!" her voice broke at the last sentence.

"They'll still recognize you! What do you mean?" said Meiko.

"They won't... know me anymore..." Miku's voice trailed off. She used every ounce of strength to keep herself from bursting.

"Come on Miku, just let it all out. It isn't healthy to keep it in." said Len, rubbing Miku's back.

At that very instant, Miku fell to the ground on her knees. She bawled, and a waterfall of tears poured down her face. Kaito took a few steps back.

Meiko knelt down to the crying girl. "Hey, it's okay. You're still Miku, even without your usual hairstyle."

Miku was crying too hard to answer. She was busy weeping for her broken hair ties, her precious pigtails, and her recognition. Right there in front of all her friends that stuck by with her time to time. There was a breath she was unable to hold in, so she ended up letting it through her nose, spraying that wet slime all over her shirt.

"Oh my god, stop, stop..." Kaito mumbled as he covered his eyes.

"Kaito, don't be mean!" Meiko gave Kaito a slight kick.

"Hey! Don't kick me! It's just that I can't stand the look of crying faces!" Kaito argued.

Len came over to Miku with something in her hand. It was a giant towel. "Here, use this." he said, handing the towel to Miku.

"Thanks Len..." Miku sniffed, taking it. While she was busy drying her face with it, she felt Rin's arm being put around her.

"You know, Miku, I felt just like you when I lost my hairbow once. I didn't want to go anywhere without it. I always had felt very happy when it was right on the top of my head. But, I soon learned to accept myself even if I didn't have one piece of accessory with me that I liked wearing on the top of my head. Nobody saw me any different. They still thought I was Rin. I realized that even if an unexpected change happened to me in any way, I would still be me. If anybody out there is going to think you are not Miku anymore or that you are some 'unknown person', then let's face it, they're the ones who aren't special at all. In fact, they're ugly, and you are prettier than them."

Although Miku wasn't actually smiling from the outside, her inside seemed to give a slight smile when she heard all those kind words from her bestie.

"I'm with Rin right there!" Kaito chimed in. "Even if your hair was down, in a bun, waist length, average length, Rin's length, or totally bald, you will always be the Miku that we all love and have known ever since the day we first met you!"

"Yeah Miku! Just because you don't have your pigtails right now, it doesn't mean any of your courage, power, skill, and talent will drain out of you! Any physical change made to you will NEVER affect your most important aspects!" said Meiko. "I'm sure that you are going to nail it out there, and that all of your fans will love you no matter how you look!"

"Like my sister said, if anybody thinks any different out of you, they can get lost!" Len added.

"It's like I've been waiting my whole life to hear that..." Miku's voice quavered as she cracked a smile.

"Miku, give me a hug." Luka spread her arms out, waiting for Miku to get in them. Miku got herself into Luka's arms. Luka supported her closely, just like how friends should.

"How about a group hug?" Rin called.

"YEEEEEEEEEEAH!" Everyone yelled, and they all surrounded Miku. Her eyes widened like a window being opened on a hot summer morning. All those people hugging her... it added sprinkles to her thankfulness.

"Alright Miku, since your shirt has stains all over it, I'm gonna get you cleaned up and make you look prettier than ever." Luka commented suddenly.

"Can't you believe that?! Luka's gonna doll you up, and you're still gonna look like yourself! SQUEEEEEEEEE!" Rin squealed, rubbing her hands together as if she were about to be served an orange flavored smoothie.

Luka helped Miku to her feet. She lead her to another room in the venue, where there would be different clothes to wear and stuff. Miku was pretty excited to see her new self, though nervous to see her friends' reactions to how Luka would style her.

She was sure to kill it.


	3. Chapter 3

In the unusual room, there was a closet where they kept a bunch of unique clothing. That seemed promising. Miku knew that she would be able to trust Luka in making her look unique for the performance, since she's always wore the same outfit, hairstyle, and facial features for every performance. So now it was time for a change!

"You can pick an outfit from here. I can't decide which." said Luka, opening the closet doors.

Miku scanned each outfit carefully. There were so many choices! Fancy choices, that is. She considered about how many outfits she has worn occasionally. After what seemed like ages, she yanked on a hanger that contained a white dress.

"I found one!" she exclaimed.

"Alright, now you go get changed." Luka said gently.

Miku went into the ladies' bathroom. She tore off her snot-covered shirt and folded it. She rolled off her stockings since she didn't think it would match the color scheme of the dress she selected. She unzipped her skirt. She put all of her pieces of clothing in one pile. That's when she started to put on the new dress. She looked into the gigantic mirror which was standing above the twin sinks. It was a short-sleeved dress with a huge ribbon in the back. The trim went just above her knees, just like her hair did. "I look amazing." she whispered, although it was clear that her eyes were a bit red from crying. She stepped out of the bathroom, almost looking like a princess.

"You look gorgeous!" Luka whooped. "Sit in this chair while I do your hair."

Miku obeyed. Luka had to brush all those shiny locks so that they wouldn't get all knotty.

"Ow! Eee! Luka! That hurts!" Miku grunted.

"I'm sorry! But your hair is so long it takes this much brushing!" Luka said sternly. She continued to brush the hair.

"AAAH! Luka, you could have tore a portion of my hair off!" Miku yelped.

"Then stop moving around like a Mexican jumping bean!" Luka sighed. There was a lot of brushing and complaining from Miku that it hurt. After all that torture of her hair being pulled and tugged, it was finally straight.

"Prepare to be surprised!" Luka grabbed two locks of Miku's hair by her front and started to braid them. She put the two braids on the back of her head and started to tie them together using a flower hair tie. It didn't take very long.

"Okay Miku! I'm done!" Luka announced, grabbing a handheld mirror for Miku to look at herself.

"Oh my god! Luka, did you really braid my hair?" Miku gasped.

"I certainly did. Look at you now! You look as pretty as ever. You should show yourself to everybody else and see what you think!" Luka replied.

Miku got off the chair and went back to her friends. She watched their faces transition into jaw-dropping faces as they all looked at her new style.

"Miku! Words can't describe how beautiful you look! You're... adorable!" said Meiko.

"Spin around! I want to see your hair twirl around!" directed Rin.

Miku did what Rin said. She looked like a graceful ballerina as she twisted. Her hair was a soaring image that could have been regrettable to one if it weren't seen.

They admired the figure. She looked like a true diva- a diva that was about to shine like a star once she was right there standing on the stage.

"You are ought to nail it out there, Miku! Just know that!" confronted Kaito.

"We love you! So do your fans!" said Rin.

"Thanks again..." said Miku.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! An exuberant cry of people exploded through the whole room.

"Oh no! I think they're already announcing our appearances to be made on the stage! I can hear the audience cheering right now!" Len remarked.

"This means Miku is going first! She is the face of the show!" Meiko pointed out.

"Go out there and make us proud!" Rin bellowed.

This was it. It was that moment that Miku was gonna go out there in her new dress and new outfit. Her heart started to pound. Sweat trickled down her forehead. Was she gonna do a good job? Or was she going to mess up on a note or two?

"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for... let's all put our hands together for all of the six Vocaloids!" a voice boomed. The audience cheered.

"Up first, we would all like to have our one and only... Hatsune Mikuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

The cheering was violent. God, Miku was unable to resist that noise. She steps out of the curtains, revealing her "same" self. The crowd gazed at her. Few seconds later, the music to "Miku Miku Ni Shite Ageru" started playing. Miku banged all the moves to the dance. She could hear the whooping and hollering from the audience.

"I've come here from beyond the bounds of science..." Miku sang, making some gestures with her hands. Some people were very close to the stage to see the pretty figure, but some were too far to see all her detail. The crowd seemed to have been even more amazed at Miku's new appearance than the fact she was performing one of her classics in front of all of them. Rin, Len, Luka, Kaito, and Meiko all watched in astonishment. It was even more magical than how she was dancing with her pigtails at the Kagamine Residence. Plus, it was a greater fantasy that them, the crowd, and the people running the venue would altogether be grateful to watch.

"Is something wrong? You've been staring at the package for a long time..." Miku sang the conclusion to the first verse. "I am going to Miku Miku..." there was a buzz in the crowd. It was like a never ending flow of screams and cries for their idol. All those dance moves, her different look, everything just seemed so special.

"And push myself to sing better..." The Vocaloids from the back of the stage started to sing along to the song.

Miku proceeded to dance and sing her song. She didn't feel at all nervous as she was performing. She had never felt so free in her life. Thanks to all of the advice her friends had taught her, she still was able to consider herself as the most beautiful singing icon. A few minutes later, Miku did the ending pose. The audience gave her a round of applause. Miku took a full bow and ran behind the stage.

The other Vocaloids started performing. They sang duets, solos, and the most popular ones. The crowd seemed to have the most extreme screams whenever Miku showed up, and not as loud when the others came. But they still had the extreme screams when Miku happened to be performing with one another Vocaloid.

 **two hours later...**

"That was the best experience of my life!" Miku hollered, stepping out of the venue behind the stream of people exiting.

"Yeah! I'm a bit jealous that you got way more applause than us. I guess your fans really liked your new hair, huh?" said Luka.

"Not only that, but they were happy that they saw me still sparkling like the ocean. They definitely had no doubt that I was going to be any less energetic. And thank, you all for teaching me how to love myself even if I were pigtail-less."

"Anything for a friend!" All the others said at the same time.

So, that was pretty much what happened. Miku learned something new that she had never learned in her life before. She still loved her pigtails, but not as much as she used to anymore due to all of the unforgettable words her friends gifted her. And she will always keep every single word the other Vocaloids said to her deep down in her heart.

Forever.


End file.
